Molecular shapes geometry9/17/2023 ![]() Four electron groups form a tetrahedron, five electron groups have trigonal bipyramidal geometry, and six groups are oriented octahedrally. ![]() Two regions of electron density in a diatomic molecule are oriented linearly on opposite sides of the central atom to minimize repulsions, and three electron groups are arranged in a trigonal planar geometry. The valence electrons form either bonding pairs, located primarily between bonded atoms, or lone pairs. Electron pairs in the valence shell of a central atom will adopt an arrangement that minimizes repulsions between the electron pairs by maximizing the distance between them. The arrangement of various electron groups around the central atom dictates their molecular geometry. Molecules have characteristic shapes that are crucial for their function. The shapes of biomolecules allow structure-specific recognition.įor example, opiates with active regions that are structurally similar to endorphins can bind to endorphin receptors and relieve pain. So, the water molecule has a bent shape.Ĭomplex biological molecules may contain anywhere between a few to millions of atoms arranged in arrays of rings and chains. The lone pair-lone pair and lone pair-bonding pair repulsions are the least when the bond angle is 104.5°. ![]() The negatively charged electron groups repel one another and try to stay as far away from each other as possible.įor example, in a water molecule, the oxygen atom has two pairs of electrons covalently bonded to hydrogen atoms and two lone pairs of electrons. Molecular shapes depend on the arrangement of various electron groups around the central atom. More complex shapes occur when a molecule contains more than two atoms. Molecules have characteristic shapes that are important for their functions.Ī diatomic molecule, such as molecular oxygen or hydrogen, is always linear. ![]()
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